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Sunday, October 15, 2017

Chifilmfest Review: The festival opens with "Marshall"

Chicago International Film Festival Review

Marshall

I got off work
at 5:15 on Thursday night. I proceeded to run to my car, start it up and drive
like a bat out of hell to get to downtown Chicago. Thankfully, I work far up
north so that drive wasn’t if it would be on any other night, but traffic was
heavy. My GPS switched routes at least three times, but I still got into town
well before the opening night screening of “Marshall.” Once I got to the AMC on
Illinois street, the theater was already decorated for the festival. I have
been going to this theater a few times this year for early screenings, thanks
to my membership with CIFF, but I’ve never seen it this appealing before. After
I picked up my tickets, I saw a crowd of people gathered in the corner, it was
the press line. The Wakandan Prince himself, Mr. Chadwick “Black Panther”
Boseman was already talking to the press, “This is Us’’’ Sterling K. Brown was
also there.

Once I
made into the auditorium, they were a little behind schedule, that gave me time
to look through my pamphlet I was given. I guess the actors were taking a
longer time than expected through the press line, I didn’t care. I was happy
just to be there on time throughout all that crazy traffic. A member of CIFF
came out, and we saw a huge trailer of a nice handful of films that will
playing at this year’s festival. It was too cool, made me wish I could
duplicate myself like X-Men’s Multiple Man, just so I could see everything.
Shortly after the trailer, “Marshall’s” director Reginal Hudlin introduced the
actors on site, they said thanks for coming, then it was on to the show!

Marshall
tells the true story of a case by Thurgood Marshall, played by Boseman.
Thurgood Marshall was a lawyer for the NAACP, who started making a name for
himself right around the time World War II was heating up. He would represent
African-Americans who were wrongfully accused of crimes and prove their
innocence, which was easier said than done during the time. The film focuses on
a case which took place Connecticut, when wealthy socialite Eleanor Strubing
(Kate Hudson) accused her chauffer Joseph Spell (Sterling K. Brown) of raping
her and nearly killing her. Spell claims he is innocent, and Marshall
represents him in case.

Or so he
tries to, NAACP pairs Marshall with Sam Friedman (Josh Gad), who normally doesn’t
do crime hearings, he’s an insurance lawyer. His brother pushed him to take the
job because of what it would mean for their firm. The problem is, due to the
racism of the time, Friedman was forced to take center stage at the court case.
The judge did not allow Marshall to ask questions, pick the jury, he basically
just sat at case and at the meetings. Completely unable to act as Spell’s
lawyer, leaving an untested Friedman the lawyer of Spell’s case. The team
worked around it, Marshall remained the brain of the team, Friedman became the
mouthpiece.

Which
illuminates the biggest flaw of the film for me. I don’t think the film should
have titled “Marshall,” it should have been called “Marshall and Freidman.”
Truth be told, the movie doesn’t really focus on Marshall exclusively, it’s
really about the bond and eventual friendship that develops between Marshall
and Friedman, and how together, they proved Spell’s innocence. People going to
see this shouldn’t expect a full blown biographical film based on Thurgood. In
fact, what’s slightly disappointing is how Marshall feels like a secondary
character in a movie that bears his name. In Spell’s case, Marshall didn’t even
stay for the final verdict, he was asked by the NAACP to represent another case
duo to the organization’s time constraints. There is a sub-plot about Marshall
and his wife struggling to get pregnant that is poorly, poorly developed. It
seemed like the movie was more interested in how Friedman was able to step up
to a particular challenge then about Thurgood Marshall himself, and that feels
problematic due to the film’s title. I mean Thurgood Marshall was the first
African-American to enter Supreme Court Justice, a huge achievement, but that
fact is only touched on in a title card at the end of the film.

It’s a
good thing everything else about the works so well. The chemistry between both
Boseman and Gad is the super-glue that holds this film together. I liked that
Thurgood Marshall wasn’t the typical hero of these types of movies. When
racists challenged him in this movie, he wasn’t afraid to challenge back. There
is a wittiness, a clever slyness to Thurgood’s character. I don’t know if that
is how the real Thurgood was like, but it made for an entertaining movie. This
is a performance that I think will stick with Boseman as he moves on in his
career, a profound highlight of his talents. It’s an equally strong showcase
for Gad. Sterling K. Brown is getting really good at playing somber
individuals, and he delivers the goods here once again. Kate Hudson is somebody
who is fifty-fifty on whether or not she’ll give a good performance. She doesn’t
have lots of screen time here, but she does what she was asked to do, and she
does it well.

There are
thousands and thousands of movies where a white person and a black person had
to come together to face a racial challenge in our country. There are thousands
and thousands of movies about African-American figures in our history
overcoming obsticles in the 1930’s through the 1960’s, when prejudice was
really running rampant. Those movies have developed a group of tropes, and we’ve
come to expect them in each of these movies. What’s clever about “Marshall” is
how it sets up those familiar tropes, but then shatters them in some instances.
It doesn’t happen in every scene, but I think audiences will be surprised by
just how many times the film doesn’t “play by the rules.”

There was
a Q&A after the film, and I think a comment that Josh Gad made was a near
perfect summation of movies today. There is a lot of gritty movies getting
released, lots of dark movies, lots of cynical movies. Heck, fans get worked up
when superhero movies are too light or too funny, nevermind that comic books
have been geared towards kids and teenagers since their inception. We are
living in cynical times, and “Marshall” is a movie about hope. A movie that
reminds us that no matter how good or bad times get, we are in this together
and we can do anything if we stand united. There may have been a darker, sadder
version of Thurgood Marshall, but I don’t need that version. “Marshall” is a
very hopeful movie, and it was that grounded, yet optimistic viewpoint that ultimately
won me over. There is lots of like about this movie, I just wish was given a
title that better represented what audiences can expect from it.

I made
lots of Facebook live videos of the event on Thursday, so if you are interested
in seeing them, please drop me a line and I will invite you to see my Facebook
page.

Thursday night was “Marshall’s” official
premiere. It is now playing at cinemas.